MBTA releases safety plan, faces hiring challenges

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority on Monday released a three-year Safety Improvement Plan, gathering together its proposals to address efforts mandated by the Federal Transportation Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, and other agencies.

That report was released on the same day a study by the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation said the MBTA is facing a critical hiring shortage that could lead to service disruptions for an extended period, the Boston Globe reports.

The safety plan, available here, incorporates safety requirements mandated by the FTA, FRA, U.S. Coast Guard (because the MBTA operates ferries), and the state Department of Public Utilities. It includes an overview of the safety inspection by the FTA, the special directives it issued last year, and the MBTA’s targets for achieving compliance with those directives. The agency also launched an online tool earlier this year to track its progress in achieving compliance [see “MBTA launches ‘safety dashboard’ …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 27, 2023].

The MBTA says the Safety Improvement Plan will be updated annually following an assessment of its progress based on objectives within the plan.

Agency needs to hire 2,800 this year

The Taxpayer Foundation study determined that the MBTA needs to hire 2,800 workers over the next 12 months but is unlikely to meet that goal, given Massachusetts’ low unemployment rate. The study said the transit agency is struggling to meet its current needs, let alone any planned or proposed expansion. “Factoring in the length of time to qualify, hire, and train new employees,” the study says, “these shortages are likely to persist, causing services to run less frequently than a year ago.”

As of the end of March, the MBTA had 1,088 current vacancies, the report said, and another 1,000 people are expected to leave because of retirement or other reasons.

Perhaps in response, the MBTA announced on Monday that, effective April 15, it was increasing its sign-on bonus for some positions to $7,500 as part of an “aggressive hiring campaign.” Those positions include bus operator, streetcar operator, subway train operator, rail repairers, track laborers, service technicians, and fuelers. Previously, the agency had only offered a $4,500 bonus for new bus operators.

The MBTA said in a statement reported by the Globe that it looks forward “to continued collaboration with elected officials and stakeholders to address our workforce needs and improve safety and reliability across the system.”